Oscar Berger commits himself to revise concessions - Yesterday marked the first approach between the

Oscar Berger commits himself to revise concessions - Yesterday marked the first approach between the Church and the Government

By Luisa Rodríguez, translation by Shauna McNally and Gloria Pereira-Papenburg

PrensaLibre.com

25th January 2005

Evaluating mining contracts, reactivating the supervisory commission and having more communication were the commitments acquired by President Óscar Berger with Monsignor Álvaro Ramazzini, bishop of San Marcos. After many days of verbal confrontations between the Church and the Government, yesterday brought the first approach.

Monsignor Ramazzini was invited by the President to the presidential house, where, accompanied by Frank La Rue, director of the Presidential Commission of Human Rights, and Monsignor Víctor Hugo Martínez, archbishop of Los Altos, they met with Berger for an hour.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the religious officials announced that the government will revise the concessions that had not been granted, will start a joint task force, and improve communication between the state and church. "We both said that we shouldn't talk about the past anymore, but rather look toward the future," explained Ramazzini.

He added that during the conversation, he insisted to Berger that he had to ask the mining company for at least 50 per cent of its profits. He commented that he is considering the offer of personal security that the authorities of the Ministry of Governance had made in view of the threats he had received.

The religious leader added that the protests scheduled for next Thursday would proceed, because it is not against the government, but rather to let people know their stance. La Rue said that they were satisfied with the meeting and that they would make their best effort to comply with the commitments made.

They will continue dialogue

Monsignor Martínez said that the bishops were not interested in "the government obeying orders from the church," but rather that the common good should prevail in all of the issues. Martínez asserted that the dialogue with the authorities will continue today, and that Vice President Eduardo Stein will be the interlocutor in the conversations between the church and the government.